More than half of all luxury spending worldwide now goes toward luxury experiences -- $770 billion out of a $1.4 trillion total luxury spending market, according to the BCG report. Luxury experiences account for 51 percent of all luxury spending in the U.S. and 61 percent of all luxury spending in Europe, according to the report.

Comparatively, America's rich are still a little preoccupied with keeping up with other rich people. Thirty-five percent of all luxury spending in the U.S. is spent on luxury cars -- an example of the kind of conspicuous consumption that can drive people of more modest means to spend more than they really should -- while luxury cars account for just 16 percent of luxury spending in Europe and 20 percent of luxury spending in Brazil, Russia, and India, according to the report.

It would make us even happier to take loved ones along for the ride. Studies show that spending on other people gives us a good feeling, according to Harvard Business School professor Michael Norton.

Not surprisingly, simple financial security can make us happy, too. Households with an annual income of more than $50,000 have a better quality of life than households making less than $50,000, according to one study. And researchers at Princeton University found that the more money you make, the happier you'll be. There's a ceiling on that, though -- past the $75,000 mark, salary doesn't seem to affect happiness much one way or the other.